The Department for Education (DfE) has announced the provision of an additional 100,000 laptops to support children in need if they are forced to learn at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has also and published a Temporary Continuity Direction on remote education under the Coronavirus Act 2020, imposing a duty on schools to provide education to children at home, and is planning to expand the EdTech Demonstrator programme.
The DfE said the new stock of laptops comes on top of the reserve of 150,000 already made available and 220,00 already delivered to pupils in need. They will be used to disadvantaged children in years 3-11.
The expansion of the EdTech Demonstrator Programme, under which ‘demonstrator schools’ are trialling new education technologies and providing peer support, involves over £1 million of additional funding.
This will help to fund resources for schools’ staff, including good practice guide and webinars, in addition to the video lessons offered by Oak National Academy as part of an earlier £4.8 million initiative.
In total, the programme has already provided support to over 6,000 schools and colleges through webinars, tutorials, and bespoke one to one support to school staff, the DfE said.
Image by Ivan Radic, CC BY 2.0
